Language Choice

[Bob Palank]

I'm working on an undergrad first programming course for software
developer, network specialist, and enduser support specialist majors. For
the latter two, this will be their only programming exposure.

I intend to use both VB.Net and VC++.Net in the first half of the course and
then let them select one of these two languages for assignment completion in
the second half of the course. Thus they get broad exposure and a language
choice to finish the course.



I invite your opinion and comment.

 

[zacks]

I'm working on an undergrad  first programming course for software
developer, network specialist, and enduser support specialist majors. For
the latter two, this will be their only programming exposure.

I intend to use both VB.Net and VC++.Net in the first half of the course and
then let them select one of these two languages for assignment completion in
the second half of the course.  Thus they get broad exposure and  a language
choice to finish the course.

I invite your opinion and comment.

This is just personal preference, but I used to code exclusively with
VB.NET. But the company I work for recently adopted C#.NET as the
standard language and I have been doing a lot of work in it ever since
and I really like it. I cut a lot of standard C back in the 90s and I
have always found C to be more readable than Basic. Also, C#.NET's
intellisence is way more robust than VB.NET's.

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

I'm working on an undergrad first programming course for software
developer, network specialist, and enduser support specialist majors. For
the latter two, this will be their only programming exposure.

I intend to use both VB.Net and VC++.Net in the first half of the course
and then let them select one of these two languages for assignment
completion in the second half of the course. Thus they get broad exposure
and a language choice to finish the course.



I invite your opinion and comment.

You might want to replace the VC++ with C#.

 

[rowe_newsgroups]

You might want to replace the VC++ with C#.

I agree, the difference between VC++ and VB.NET are huge, and I think
it would be extremely difficult to have a class that can use either.

Thanks,

Seth Rowe [MVP]

 

[Phillip Taylor]

I'm working on an undergrad first programming course for software
developer, network specialist, and enduser support specialist majors. For
the latter two, this will be their only programming exposure.

I intend to use both VB.Net and VC++.Net in the first half of the course and
then let them select one of these two languages for assignment completion in
the second half of the course. Thus they get broad exposure and a language
choice to finish the course.

I invite your opinion and comment.

Visual C++.NET in a managed environment doesn't have much advantages.
It has a complicated syntax compared with VB.NET and C#.NET. However C+
+ in an unmanaged environment is extremely powerful and brings many
advantages such as speed, reduced deployment size (no .NET framework
required), closer to grain control of memory and so forth.

Because of managed C++ not having many benefits to C++ developers, a
lot of C++ developers for Windows however still consider Visual Studio
6.0 to be better IDE. This recent Visual Studio blog seems to confirm
it: http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2007/12/26/just-what-is-this-tr1-thing.aspx

So my advice would be that it's good your learning multiple languages.
This will inevitably make you a stronger programmer with a wider skill
set but when you do learn C++ perhaps don't get tangled up in the
managed side. Try and write unmanaged C++ code. It's also worth noting
that C#.NET, Managed C++ and VB.NET only really exist for Windows
(since Mono is both incomplete and there are patent concerns).
Standard C++ however is platform independent.

Phill

 

[Phillip Taylor]

You might want to replace the VC++ with C#.

The differences between C# and VB are so small...what's the point of
him learning both of them? What are the gains? It's the same runtime
and the same framework available on the same platforms. Any half-
respectable developer can jump between the two with minimal fuss
anyway. C++ with a language like C# _or_ VB.NET would give him a much
wider skill set IMHO.

Phill

 

[Bob Palank]

WOW!
The authors have similar texts in both VB and C#.
Accidently, I reposted so I'll see if others concur.
Thanks to all.

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Phillip,

You mean probably not managed C++ without MFC.

(Greath for programs without Windows but just commandline work)

Cor